Machine for separating and grading seeds and grains



Jan, a i925.

M. S. NESBITT MACHINE FOR SEARATING AND GRADING SEEDS AND GKAINS 2 ASheocs-Shenat 1` Filed Feb. 14. 1921 UOOWVJOOOOOOOOObO IIIIIIIIIIIIUHWH fir-6*" arroz may M. s. NEsBlT-r MACHINE FOR vSI'IPAHATING AND GRADING SEEDS AND GRAINS Filed Feb. 14, 1921 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 i l A 3mm.

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Application mea retratar;14,'192i. 'sereni M5444, e

To aZZiwwm z't may concern. j

Beit known that I MILTON vS. .'NEsBrTT,

resident of Payette, Fayette County, State of Idaho, citizen ofthe United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Machine for Separating ,y and Grading Seeds and Grains, of which `the folf lowing 1s a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for and method of separatingl andgrading seeds and grains, and particularly toa machine and method by which seeds and grains of different density are separated and graded by specificv gravity. l

Bodies'of different density sink through water at different rates of speed, andas noxious weed seeds have a dierent specific gravity from clover and alfalfav seeds, these seeds vand the different grain seeds also possessing different specific gravity, it is an object of my invention to provide a machine with which seeds and grain having weed seeds or other noxious' matter .mixed there'.-

with are precipitated ,into a viowin stream of water and separation is accompllshed by settling, the seeds 'of different specific gravity being collected at different points.

A further object resides in so construct-V. ing the machine thatthe different classes of seeds are removed from the body'4 of water and are collected at different points where the noxious matter may be discarded and the good seed or 'grain can be collected and dried or otherwise treated. t f

Another object lies in providing independent means by Which the rate of flow ofA the water andthe rate of feed ofthe seedsf can be regulated, thus adapting the machine for treatment of various kinds andl characters of seeds and grains. j .4

f Still another object resides in providing. a riddle orv other means for removing scum and floating material from thel surface of the water, thus adapting the machine for use Where a continuouswater,supply islnot available and the treatingwater must-be pumped or conveyed back through the sep-1 arating'tank.

Yet another object is to provide a process for treating seeds andfgrains by .dropping the same '-into a moving stream'of Water,

v seeds andgrains of different specific gravity being carrled for a greater or lesser distance before settling to the bottom ofthe stream, andl collecting the seeds where deposited upon the bottom.

`set forth.

chamber.

s. inr .view

which willbe apparent fr0m;the

tion, drawings' and claims, thisginvention in,l

cludes certain novel` eaturesof construction and combination *ofy parts which will nowpbey- In the drawin" sz-" Figure 1 isa ongitudinal sectionalview through a machine constructed 1n .accordf ancepwith myinvention. 4 Fig. 21s a top plan view. v

View on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4` is a detail ofthe.discharge control;

for the feed hopper.

FigzY 's a transverse vertical Vsectional i' Fig 's a sectional view throughv the Afeed hopper and distributing board. y

Fig. 6 isa diagrammatic View illustrating the method of accomplishing'the lsep:tration cordance with my invention. i The body 1 of the machineis the form rof an open/topped strai trough and has Water How controlling shutters at 2 and 3, the betweenfthesel shutters being the, Water is end of the trough toy Yand grading.. ofthe seeds and .grains iii acf made in ghi-Sided gra-ding or separating supplied lat .thet Ahead. How .through shutters 2, the rate or flow being controlled at the head Aend of these shutters and at thepfootf,

of the chamber.

13a-(lend to flow againthrough r. l n, l "1",.,3 .i A

A seed or grain hopper 4 is mounted .over the'head end of the chamber. adjacent shut- 8 so that the-seed or grain passing through openings 5 will strike this extension vandV will be spread. l

A distributing board 9 p neath the extension k8 and is pmovably sup-`v portedbyfa'rocking arm `10 at its upper end and rolls 11` at its lower end; ,A disk and wrist pin 12 revolublymounted at one side of the supporting structure are con-v nected vwith the distributing board `by a litma-n 13, a shaking movementv being thus imparted to the distributing board. to accomplish a broadcast distribution` of thev is Y positioned Abe- .I

p y shuttersv 3. :The water,l maybe takenfrom a continuous suppl or can bepumped orotherwise carried eraf the foot rend of thev chamber back: to the the" cliam-l board from the hopper.

seed or grain falling onto the distributing As indicated in Fig. 1 the hopper structure isv mounted so that the discharge from the distributing board Will be adjacent the surface of the Water flowing through trough 1, and it is desirable that adjusting bolts 14 and 15, or other suitable adjusting means, be provided to vary the height at which the distributing board is disposed above thek water surface vto adapt themachine for' all kinds and conditions of seed and grain.

The bottom4 of tank 1 is the bed of thefflo'w-4 ing stream of Water, and as the seed or grain isv dropped into they flowing streaml it kWill sink byl gravity, seeds of different density and different specific` gravity requiring a shorter or longer time to fall to the bed. In consequence the dif ferent grades of seeds or grain Will be separated and will deposit at different points along'the bottom ofthe trough.

With the abo-ve in view I cut out'the floor of the trough for'quite a distance infrom the foot end of the chamber and provide a housing l16 beneath the open space. Rollers 17 and 18 are journaled Within the housing at the .side of the trough and a conveyor belt 19 is carried on these rolls, the floor of the troughbeing extended over the belt as at 20 atthe upper end and the belt being lapped over the floor as at 21, at the lower end. The belt travels in the directio-n in dicated by the arrovvs and at thel discharge side clearance is provided so that seeds depositing on the belt are removed into the housing. The conveyorfbelt is preferably of canvas or `other -material sutlicient-ly rough to hold and carry the seed in the depressions, and vit Will not therefore be necessary to provide great clearance for the yseed at the discharge side. The accumulation of seeds at the edge of the opening will be sufficient to form a seal against the f escape of Water, as the seed discharged from the `machineI will be carrie-d in the roughened depressions of the conveyor belt and the clearance in the opening need be only very slightly above the upper surface of the-belt. At that side ofthe housing into which the seeds are discharged outlet spouts 22 and '23 'are provided at points spaced along the length of the housing. greater number of these outlet spouts can be provided and they' Will be spaced to take the seeds and grains deposited upon different areas of the belt. In this Way the heavier seeds, first to settle, will be taken off nearest the feed end while the lighter ma-terial yvill be taken voff adjacent the foot end of the chamber, and Where intermediate grades-areto be collected other discharge troughs may' be employed. Ordinary slides or any form of valves may be provided to control the discharge from v Water thereon.

. particles,

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ther along4 the flow ofthe these discharge troughs, and if desired a floor or idler rolls may be placed beneath the conveying stretch of the -belt to support the weight thereof andthe Weight of the In the treatment of some characters of seeds'andgrain it may be found desirable to use a skim of oil. on the surface of the Water to coat the seeds or to catch and float lighter and further,.in the continuous use of the machine it will be found'th'at scum Will collect oni the surface of the Water at the foot end of the chamber; and, it is therefore desirable that kthe screening conveyor 24 be rovided at the foot end of the chamiiis conveyor being of Wire mesh or other construction andbeing adapted to take scum and foreign matter from the water and deposit the same into trough or boX 25 where it is removed.

A combined chain and sprocket and geared drive may be arranged as shown in Fig. 2 by Whichl the various parts are connected to be simultaneously operated, or the different moving parts can be independently actuated.

As the operation of the mechanism has been rather fully set forth in connection with the description of the parts it is not believed that recapitulationneed here be indulged in. v

In carrying `out the method of mv invention the separation and'gradin of tne seeds and grain are accomplished su. stantially as diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 6. The seed is fed or dropped upon the surface of the flowing body of Water and through differences in density and specific gravity the heavy seeds first; precipitate, the medium seeds settling to the bottom at a point furbody, and the light seeds being last tosettle. The various grades of seeds thus separated are removed and collected after which the good seeds may be dried or otherwise treated. Other forms ofmechanism might loe-employed in carrying out the steps of my method.

While in the foregoing `I have shown and described a certain mechanism and have set forth certain steps by whichmy method is accomplished, it will be appreciated that changes in the machine and variations inthe steps of the method might be made Within the scope of my invention, in view of which I wish to be limited only to such points as are set forth inthe claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for separating and grading seeds and grain including with a separating chamber adapted to have a stream of Water flowed therethrough, means to drop the seeds and grain into the Water at the head end ofthe chamber, a transversely travelling conveying `,belt forming a portion of the bottom of the chamber adjacent the foot end thereof, and a screen conveyor at the foot A end of the chamber to remove floating matter from the Water. Y

2. A machine for separatin seeds including with a trough construct@ as a separating chamber and adapted to have Water fiovv therethrough, a hopper at the head end of the trough from which seeds are dropped into the Water to settle b the lighter seeds beinv' the foot end of the ciamber and heavier seeds settling nearer the khead end, said trough having its bottom cut out adjacent the foot end ofthe chamber throughout that portion Where the seeds will settle, a housing constructed beneath the opening of the trough, a conveying belt mounted on rollers within vsaid housing to have its upper stretch till the opening in the bottom of the trough and travel transversely thereacross to con# vey the deposited seeds from the trough, and discharge chutes opening from the housing in which dilerent grades of seeds are caught from'said belt.

3. A machine for separating seeds including' with a trough forming a separating chamber and adapted to have Water flow therethrough, means at the upper and lower ends of said chamber t0 regulate the flow of gravit-y therein, t eposited adj acent v the surface of the Water, said trough havin@` its bottom cut out adjacent the foot end ot the chamber throughout that portion where the seeds will settle, a housingconstructed beneath the openin vof the trough, a conveying belt mounte on rollers within said housing to have its upper stretch fill the opening in the bottom of the trough and travel'transversely thereacross to convey thc deposited seeds from the trough, discharge chutes opening from the housing in which different grades of seeds are caught from said belt, and means to remove floating mat-k ter from the water at the lower end of the separating chamber.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

MILTON S. NESBITT.y 

